Here is Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, with the intro to one of the highlights of every festive season. . . . “Here is the link to Gene Collier’s annual ‘Trite Trophy’ award ceremony in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I enjoy this column every December; this one is among the best of the lot. . . . The link is in the below tweet. Enjoy!
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And now here’s Finarelli at his curmudgeonly best: “The NY Knicks had two players wearing the same number in a game against the Sixers. As you might expect, that is a no-no. As you may also expect, this situation is not difficult to avoid with even a smidgen of attention to detail. Most teams can go for years on end without having this happen.”
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Finarelli also points out that it was H.L. Mencken who once wrote: “If I had my way, any man guilty of golf would be ineligible for any office of trust in the United States.”
I’m sure that by now you have seen that Doordash commercial about their Flavourhood. In fact, you likely have seen it a time or 17. Whenever I see it, I wonder if they remembered to thank Guy Fieri. After all, he’s been talking about Flavourtown for a long, long time.
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times reports: “Nevada got socked with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty in the waning seconds of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl when Wolf Pack players dumped a cooler full of french fries on winning coach Jay Norvell — and some of the spud slicings wound up on the field. Luckily for Norvell it wasn’t the Gator Bowl.”
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Perry, again: “Since Donald Trump is suddenly parsing out pardons like Halloween candy, why not ones for Steve Bartman and The Butt Fumble, too?”
You may be aware that the Rose Bowl has been moved from Pasadena to AT&T Stadium (aka Jerry’s World) in Arlington, Texas. Janice Hough, who can be found at LeftCoastSportsBabe.com, asks: “So can we just call it the Yellow Rose of Texas Bowl?”
A Steph Curry rookie card recently sold for US$611,000 at auction, which brought this reaction from Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot: “So now we have a better understanding for why the very rich need those tax breaks.”
B.C. health officials have revealed changes to restrictions that had kept some junior hockey players off the practice ice. Under those restrictions, players 19 years of age and over were prohibited from practising with their younger teammates. Now those restrictions have changed and players who are 21 and younger are OK to practise. Teams still aren’t permitted to play games, however. . . . The situation is to be re-examined prior to Jan. 8. . . . There is more info right here.
COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .
CBC News, Monday 8:16 a.m. PT: With the 37 new deaths reported in Quebec, Canada’s COVID-19 death toll has passed the 15,000 mark. In total, the country has seen 554,295 cases, 15,001 deaths, and 459,096 recoveries.
Public Health Agency of Canada: Canada’s numbers, Monday, 4 p.m. PT — 555,207 total cases; 74,113 active cases; 15,121 deaths.
CNN, Monday, 9 p.m. PT: 19.3 million people in the United States have tested positive for coronavirus.
CNN, Monday 2 p.m. PT: 334,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus.
Ryan Struyk, CNN: A total of 1,284,599 airline passengers traveled Sunday in the United States, the highest number of travelers in a single day since the pandemic began, according to new TSA data.
The New York Times: At least 1 of every 17 people in the U.S. has contracted the coronavirus, and 1 in 1,000 has died. Yet the worst may lie ahead as many Americans travel over the holiday season.
yahoo.com: L.A. County Health Department Urges Film & TV Productions To “Strongly Consider Pausing For A Few Weeks” As Covid-19 Surge Continues.
CBC News, Monday: Global cases of COVID-19 top 81M mark: Johns Hopkins University.
CBC News, Sunday: U.S. cases of COVID-19 top 19M: Johns Hopkins University. The country also records deadliest month with 63,500 COVID-19 fatalities in December.
TOX 10 Phoenix: Arizona on Saturday reported more than 5,000 additional known COVID-19 cases for the 10th straight day, as the surge put a pandemic-high number of virus patients in intensive care beds across the state.
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Duke University women’s basketball team announced Christmas Day that it won’t be finishing its season. The program has been on hold since Dec. 16 because of two positive tests and contact tracing. The Blue Devils were 3-1 in head coach Kara Lawson’s first season. Earlier in December, she had said: “I don’t think we should be playing right now. That’s my opinion on it.” . . . Duke men’s head coach Mike Krzyzewski also has questioned why the season is being held, but his team is expected to continue its season. . . .
Earlier, Chicago State men’s basketball team ended its season. It, too, has been dealing with virus-related issues, including having lost head coach Lance Irvin for a bit. The Cougars were 0-9. . . . The school’s women’s team is expected to keep playing. . . .
Dom Izzo, WDAY, Fargo, N.D.: Minnesota Department of Health signs off on high school games starting Jan. 14. Practices already could begin on Jan. 4. Good news for MN HS athletes. . . .
The Buffalo Bills placed WR John Brown, S Josh Thomas and RB Christian Wade on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday, so they didn’t play in that night’s 38-9 victory over the host New England Patriots. They were ruled to be high-risk contacts of RB TJ Yeldon, who tested positive and also didn’t play. . . .
The NFL’s Detroit Lions were without interim head coach Darrell Bevell and four assistant coaches due to COVID-19 protocols on Saturday as they lost 47-7 to the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Defensive co-ordinator Cory Undlin and three other assistants — Bo Davis (defensive line), Ty McKenzie (linebackers) and Steve Gregory (defensive backs) — also were missing. Robert Prince, the wide receivers coach, stepped in as head coach, with quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan taking over the play-calling duties despite never having done that at any level of football. . . . The Lions asked the NFL to push the game back to Sunday, by which time the coaches would have been available, but the request was denied.
The Cleveland Browns placed four wide receivers on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday before they lost 23-16 to the New York Jets on Sunday. Rashard Higgins, KhaDarel Hodge, Jarvis Landry and Donovan Peoples-Jones didn’t play against the Jets. Cleveland LB Jacob Phillip also went on the reserve/COVID-19 list. . . .
The Holy Cross men’s hockey team has experienced a positive test so has shut down its program until further notice. . . . Holy Cross is located in Worcester, Mass. . . .
The Thief River Falls Norskies and the Wisconsin Lumberjacks of the 10-team Superior International Junior Hockey League have ended their operations for the 2020-21 season due to virus-related restrictions. They are the league’s two U.S.-based franchises and the continued closure of the border with Canada made it impossible to continue. . . .
On Dec. 19, Tim Brando, 64, handled play-by-play of the Mountain West championship football game in Las Vegas on Fox. On Saturday, he revealed that he has tested positive. His wife, Teri, also has tested positive. Both are in quarantine. . . .
K Brett Lauther, who played the 2018 and 2019 CFL seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, has tested positive. He wrote on Twitter that he tested negative on Dec. 16, but then came up positive on Dec. 22 and now is in quarantine. . . . Lauther, 30, is from Truro, N.S. He opted out of this contract with the Roughriders and is scheduled to become a free agent in February.
If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:
Living Kidney Donor Program
St. Paul’s Hospital
6A Providence Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-9027
Toll free: 1-877-922-9822
Fax: 604-806-9873
Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca
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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney
Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre
Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9
604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182
kidneydonornurse@vch.ca
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
TAKING NOTE 